Nvidia Finds Itself at the Center of an AI Spy Saga

The companies behind powerful AI technology are high-stakes territory for international espionage. A new investigation from The New York Times published Thursday found that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang may have been the target of Chinese spying activity, with the US government identifying a data center executive with whom he had developed a “close relationship” as a possible operative for the Chinese government.

Alice Huang, no relation to Jensen, is a Chinese citizen and an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company. Megaspeed buys chips from Nvidia to run data centers that sell compute to Chinese AI labs, including Qwen AI maker Alibaba. But while US intelligence agencies had her under electronic surveillance for allegedly facilitating the sale of advanced Nvidia chips to China in violation of US law, officials discovered she was also allegedly funneling information to the Chinese government in Beijing.

There are no details about what information Alice Huang may have shared with China, or how valuable it might be, though the Times reports that an investigation and surveillance of her are ongoing. Jensen Huang was not given a heads-up by the US government because it could have risked the US’ investigation into the Megaspeed exec, the Times said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

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An Nvidia spokesperson told CNET that Jensen Huang’s interactions with Alice Huang are “not unusual or unexpected” given that the CEO “talks with thousands of customer executives every year.” Nvidia added that customers like Megaspeed are “no different than many other regional cloud customers” that don’t receive sensitive trade secrets, and the company is “confident that if the US government believes that any person is a threat to American industry, it would let us know.”

This report is the latest incident highlighting how AI technology and infrastructure are a key part of international trade and conflict, underscoring concerns about AI’s capabilities and its outsized share of the global economy. It isn’t even the first time this month that a major AI company has dealt with alleged espionage: The FBI arrested a Saudi Arabian national for planting a recording device in one of OpenAI’s executive conference rooms.

AI and international law

You can’t do AI without cutting-edge computer chips. That’s what has made Nvidia the world’s most valuable company by market cap — $5 trillion this year — because it makes and sells the most advanced computer chips, the kind that AI data centers use. Big Tech companies are hustling to build data centers, in spite of significant environmental concerns and public backlash. It has created a firestorm in the computing industry. With advanced chips in such high demand, the costs of RAM and storage have risen across the board. Many hardware manufacturers are passing the additional cost on to consumers.

The US has tried to control China’s access to these advanced chips for years. The Biden administration banned Chinese sales of a series of advanced Nvidia chips in 2022, but President Donald Trump relaxed those rules in 2025. Now the US government gets 15% of revenue from Nvidia and fellow chipmaker AMD from certain chip sales to China. But reports show that there are still illegal operations underway to smuggle banned chips from the US to China.

Trump has a friendly relationship with many Big Tech leaders, including Jensen Huang, which has resulted in millions in personal donations for the president and relaxed regulations for tech companies. The Times reports that Trump was briefed on the investigation into Alice Huang a year ago and chose not to take any action.

The White House, the US Department of Justice and Megaspeed did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Katelyn is a reporter with CNET covering artificial intelligence, including chatbots, image and video generators. Her work explores how new AI technology is infiltrating our lives, shaping the content we consume on social media and affecting the people behind the screens. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in media and journalism. You can reach her at kchedraoui@cnet.com. See full bio